


After Birth

by knight_of_trash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Lance, Alpha!Lance, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, But like it's RIGHT after giving birth, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Implied Mpreg, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Violence, Okay so mpreg is heavily mentioned, Omega Keith (Voltron), Omega Verse, Omega!Keith, POV Third Person Limited, Probably way too much detail about the pain of giving birth, Prompt Fill, Some panicking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 18:58:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11743149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knight_of_trash/pseuds/knight_of_trash
Summary: "A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path." -Agatha ChristieKeith is captured by the Galra. Normally, he wouldn't worry, but then the pup he's carrying decided to come into the world at the most inopportune time, and now, despite his weakened state, he has to protect her at all costs. Never come between a mother and their child.





	After Birth

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [После рождения](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15731109) by [DreamerX2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamerX2/pseuds/DreamerX2)



> This is inspired by a prompt I saw on tumblr and decided to fill it.
> 
> http://tomakehimfree.tumblr.com/post/162055636476/thinking-about-that-angsty-mpreg-anon-makes-me
> 
> This is my first fanfic in 5 years, so I hope I don't disappoint!
> 
> Also to avoid confusion, I imagine male omegas to have a vagina, but instead of a clitoris, it's a smaller than average penis.

It had taken a lifetime, or at least that's how it had felt. It was hard to gauge the passage of time in the tiny, dimly lit cell, eyes straining to see anything and everything, but he had done it. He had done what he thought to be impossible. Fuck if it hadn't hurt. He was sure he had torn badly during the birth, but it stung too much to investigate. The excruciating, white hot pain had centered in places he didn't think it would, such as his ankles, his shoulders, even his scalp. It was so much worse being unable to scream. Having to hold back kept him from breathing through the endless waves of pain, he almost passed out twice, but he couldn't afford to be heard. Not if he wanted a moment of peace with his brand new daughter, now wrapped in the prison poncho he had been wearing, held tightly to his chest, afraid if he so much as loosened his grip, she'd disappear.

  
Ten fingers, ten toes, and one tiny nose. She was perfect. She was so fucking perfect. He lost track of how many times he brought her little hand to his lips, how many times he brought her head up to his nose and inhaled her scent. It's true what they say...New babies really do have a smell, and he loved it. He loved her. Keith didn't think he would love her this much so soon, but he did. And he knew, with lump in his throat threatening to choke him every time his thoughts lingered too long on it, that her father, loved her too.

Lance...He silently hoped the energetic alpha could sense their daughter had been born, and that he was chomping at the bit to find them and bring them home safe to the Castle, amongst their pack, to the nest he had built just for her arrival. He actually prayed that they'd throw caution to the wind and get to them within his next breath, because anything was better than the waiting. Waiting for the Galra, or worst...Haggar, to come through his cell door, and rip his nursing baby from his breast, taking her away forever. Somehow he kept his daughter quiet, knowing her cries would alert them that the Red Paladin had pupped. As much as Keith loved to think he could fight them off, summon that maternal strength and rip anyone to pieces for so much as threatening to take his child from him, he knew he had yet to regain his strength from the birth. If he was being completely honest with himself, he was exhausted. So exhausted he trembled, but his fear of having her taken from him kept him alert. Still, he hoped beyond hope that Lance would be the one to come through that door next.

  
But hoping for something doesn't make it true, and eventually, fatigue caught up with Keith. He was just so exhausted, and the longer he spent stroking the sleeping newborn's back as she laid on his chest, the more soothed he felt. His eyes eventually slipped closed for what he promised to be a just a moment, but the moment he felt his hands stutter he knew he was in too deep, not that he could pull himself away from the claws of sleep if he wanted to. It was a restless sleep. His mind took him back to the Castle, laboring and in pain, desperately seeking out his alpha and their nest but unable to find either, then the pain was gone, but so was his child. Wait!

  
Keith shot upright knowing something was wrong before he was even fully in the moment. His daughter wailing as a Galra drone removed her from his cell, two other drones between him and the door. He cried out for her, scrambling to reach her but failing to evade the drones in the room that easily locked their steely grip onto his trembling arms. He yanked back and forth, digging bare feet into the freezing metal floor for purchase as he tried desperately to wiggle free from them, but they were stuck fast. He let out a growl that sounded more menacing than he felt. That is, until he caught a glimpse of who the drone passed his baby off to.

  
The witch sneered at the child, her icy voice causing Keith's blood to run cold. "What a pathetic little creature...So weak and helpless." She bounced the newborn roughly, making the child scream louder for her mother. Keith froze instantly, breath catching in his throat.

  
"Give her back...Please...Give her back." He begged, voice quieter than a pin drop, heart racing. Any thought of self-pride shoved to the recesses of his mind. "She's just a baby. Please..."

  
"You seem to be forgetting the situation you are in, Red Paladin...You are in no position to make demands of me. The ilk that you bore lives solely because I allow it to. If your cooperation was not requested by Lord Zarkon, I would crush her skull in my fist to teach you a valuable lesson about showing weakness." Haggar holds the pup out in a threat, dangling her precariously above the floor. The sight alone made Keith's knees give out completely, silent tears sliding freely down his cheeks, let alone the witch's words that sent his mind reeling. "Now...Give us the location of Voltron and I may give you back your pitiful offspring unharmed."

  
It took Keith a moment to remember how to breathe and even longer to drown out his child's cries to focus long enough to find the answer to the question. Too many tics went by before his mind turned up the obvious. He had no idea where Voltron, the paladins, or the Castle was. Not truly. Though he knew they would be scrambling to retrieve him, knowing two lives were at stake, and wouldn't stay away for long.

  
"My patience grows exponentially thin, Paladin, especially with this wretched thing shrieking. Tell me where to locate Voltron now, or suffer the consequences." He could hear the sneer in her voice without even looking at her.

  
"But I don't know where they are!" Keith shouted louder than he intended, broken voice foreign to his own ears. "I swear..."

  
Haggar turned her nose up in disgust, her long nails digging slowly into the helpless infant's skin, causing her cry out louder in pain. "Unacceptable."

  
Something within Keith snapped, the world fell away. All he knew was he needed his child in his arms **now**! He twisted violently, trashing against his captors, a cry of his own adding power to his exertions. Haggar drew back a few steps, subconsciously bringing the baby in close to shield the infant, which only set Keith off further. His child didn’t needed to be protected from him! He managed to break his left hand free in the struggle, having kicked one of the drones in the knee, knocking it off balance. He lurched forward, wrenching his right hand free as well. A growl set in his throat as he launched himself at the witch. The drone on his left just barely managing to catch him around the hips before he collided with his target, fingertips grazing her robes but not quite catching. When his body came to an abrupt stop, he let out a feral sound, legs kicking back at the drone. He wasn't allotted a second chance, the drone maneuvering him in its grasp before slamming him harshly against the floor, breath knocked from his lungs.

  
Keith gasped for air, coughing roughly as stars danced across his vision, his ears ringing. The drone above him pressed him into the floor, restraining his arms behind his back and binding them. As he regained his breath he became acutely aware that that was no ringing in his ears, but the sound of the ship's siren blaring. Haggar's voice cut through the sound with harsh, barking orders.

  
"Take the Red Paladin to the bridge! Lord Zarkon wishes to use him for bait to lure the Champion into a trade. Their breeding mare, for the Black Lion." She informs the two drones who yank him to his feet by his arms. The witch already skulking off in the opposite direction with his daughter held firmly to her chest.

  
"Where are you taking her?!" He yelled after her as the drones dragged him away. "Where are you taking my daughter you bitch?!"

  
Haggar turned, regarding him, a wicked smile formed on her lips, then she disappeared from sight, his daughter’s cries slowly fading into the siren’s wail. With that, his heart sank once more as he was dragged away, and though he knew the sirens meant his pack had come for him, he could hardly breathe. Mind racing with every vile reason it could find for Haggar taking away his baby girl. He feared that her cries fading under the siren's blast would be his last memory of his pup. That thought had the tears returning to his eyes and his lower lip stuttering so much he bit down on it to try and steel himself as much as possible to face Zarkon.

  
The hallways blurred together, vision fuzzed by his tears. Only this time, he allowed the broken sobs to escape, slipping painfully past his throat, raw with emotion. He was so swept up in his grief, he didn't notice the familiar scent of oak and the sea that approached, causing the drones to halt before being dropping like flies around him. He stared down at the lifeless husks of the drones, not quite over his disassociation.

  
"Keith!"

  
_Lance_.

  
He turned on his heels, facing his alpha with unbelieving eyes. Lance lowered his bayard, eyeing Keith up and down, eyes falling immediately onto Keith's stomach, though not flat by any means, it was considerably smaller than when the Blue Paladin had last seen him. Lance looked up at him, face caught between concern and dismay, begging the question Keith really...really didn't want to answer. He tore his gaze from his alpha, feeling small and helpless.

  
"Stop staring and get me out of these cuffs." He said, voice monotone but hoarse.

  
Lance moved, doing as he was told, neither of them knowing what to say. When Keith was freed, they faced each other. Lance's hand hovered between them, wanting to reach out and press to Keith's stomach, but knowing something was wrong. After a moment's contemplation it dropped back to his side.

  
"Keith, you-...I mean did you-...?"

  
"Yeah." Keith muttered, finally meeting Lance's gaze, a small smile on his lips. "I tried to tell her to wait for you, but babies come when they come."

  
Lance's eyes widened, the corners of his mouth pulling up ever so slightly, voice so soft Keith could barely hear him gasp, "Her?"

  
The sight of his alpha practically melting at that brought a renewed sense of strength to Keith. His pack was here now. His alpha was here. His alpha loved their daughter. He gripped Lance's shoulders, focusing the taller boy's attention on him. "Haggar has her! I don't know where that hag is taking her, but she needs us Lance!"

  
The alpha bristled at that, a rare look of seriousness washing over him. He nodded in understanding. "We'll get her back, Keith. And I'll make that witch pay for putting her filthy hands on our daughter."

  
Footsteps approached from the direction Keith was being taken. Keith nodded to Lance, the two set off back towards the general direction the cell Keith had been kept it. Or at least what he thought was the general direction, when his alpha stopped them abruptly.

  
"What? Why are you stopping?" Keith asked. "It's this way..." He gestures up the hallway they had been running up.

  
Lance shook his head. "I smell blood. Your blood." He took the left hallway, sprinting down it about midway, Keith begrudgingly following close behind until Lance stopped again in front of a cell. "Here!" The footsteps were closing in from behind. Even if he was wrong, they had to hide regardless. He slammed his hand to the panel and yanked the alpha inside the cell, pressing his ear to the door and listening for the heavy feet of the drones to pass. When they did, he released a breath of apprehension.

  
He looked at Lance who was staring down at the mess Keith had left on the floor, unmoved since they got there besides removing the pack from his back. "Lance! What are you doing?"

  
"I can't believe you had to give birth here, Keith...I am so so sorry..." The sorrow in the taller boy's voice cut Keith deep. Lance kneeled down next to the stains on the floor, and the disgusting heap of placenta that Keith had passed. "I should've been here...We should've come for you when I wanted to last night...After I saw Red trying to escape the Castle I knew something was wrong! But Shiro-...” Lance grit his teeth, fists clenching as he tried to control his anger.

  
Keith put a gentle hand on Lance's shoulder, gripping tightly, "It would've been too dangerous. Even if I had been able to move, I would've been too slow, and hindered your efforts, maybe even gotten you captured, or worse..."

  
"You’re right.” He heaved a sigh, gesturing at the bag. "Would you just-...Suit up already? I want to get our daughter and get home a-sap."

  
Keith didn't press, letting Lance take a moment to gather himself and also weirdly enjoying the feeling of peeling out of the prison garb he had been forced to wear. His armor bringing him one step closer to freedom, and one step closer to finding their baby. Fully suited up, comm springing to life in his ear, Shiro, Hunk, and Allura's voices calling out to each other as they surely fought off the Galra fleet outside.

  
"Pidge." Keith said, an itch in the pit of his stomach making him anxious to leave this room behind forever and never look back.

  
"Keith? Glad you're safe. Someone forgot to check-in when they found you! I notice you two are in a cell...Need some help there?" Pidge's voice was music to his ears. God he never thought he'd be so happy to hear from that little gremlin.

  
Keith snorted, "If you would. Also...We need you to locate Haggar and direct us to her."

  
"Do you have a death wish?" She asked.

  
"No," Lance cut in, "But Haggar sure the fuck does since she stole our baby!"

  
"Say no more." Pidge said quickly. The door to the cell clicked then slid open. "Go to the right, take the third hallway on your left. I'm getting the exact coordinates now."

  
The two exchange a determined look before cautiously exiting the cell, Keith's eyes tracking up and down the hallway to make sure it was clear before the two bolted from the cell, leaving it behind for good. Keith struggled to keep up with Lance, and slightly shorter legs weren’t the problem. Fatigue made his legs feel like lead, and the aches in his hips and groin from the birth didn't help either. To be honest, he felt ridiculous, panting heavily when he normally wouldn't have been winded. Granted, he should've known pushing out his daughter wouldn't change his body back to how it had been before he ever got knocked up, but this was ridiculous.

  
As they rounded the corner on the third left Pidge voice sounded over the comm again. "Good. Take the second right, and then go left at the fork. I have feed of Haggar in what appears to be a laboratory of some kind. She just placed your baby in something that looks like an incubator."

  
Keith gritted his teeth, a stitch forming in his side as the ache in his hips and groin teetered towards stabbing pain. "Is she clear of the baby?"

  
"Yes. I can't tell what she's up to, but yes. But you need to hurry. I don't know what she's plotting, but I don't like it." Pidge's voice gave a grave warning, a second wind hitting them and running a little faster.

  
They reached the fork before Keith had to stop for breathe, doubled over and panting heavily, the lanky alpha teasing him for being out of shape. He swore that after a long rest, he would so be hitting the training deck and getting his damn lungs back at the very least. Honestly, he had heard that omegas experienced shortness of breath during pregnancy, but he had pupped already. This was ridiculous! That's when he caught it, inner monologue sidetracked by a noise, barely there, hiding under the sound of the siren and hard to pick apart from Lance's playful jab at his health, but he knew that sound anywhere. His daughter's cries coming from the left hallway. She was close!

  
"Shh!" Keith hushed him. "Do you hear that?"

  
Lance started to shake his head before his ears caught it too, head whipping around to the left, just like Pidge had said. "Is that-?"

  
Keith didn't answer. He pushed past the other paladin, using his ears to seek out the laboratory. Given that Pidge didn't come over the comms to correct them, he figured his ears were right. He knew he was close when he caught the faint scent of the pup in the air. He guided Lance until he found the door to the laboratory, Pidge confirming over the comms that they'd found it. He shot the alpha a desperate look, needing Lance to understand an unspoken truth. Keith wasn't leaving without their child, even if that meant his life.

  
Lance paused, looking between his mate and the door to the laboratory. Nodding to him in understanding. They took up positions, Keith to the right of the door, Lance to the left. They readied their bayards before Keith pressed a hand to the door's panel. With a click, the door slid open. Keith sucked in a breath as Lance threw himself around the corner. He exhaled sharply, following on his heels. His eyes scanned the room for movement, locking instantly onto Haggar, caught off guard and too out of range of them to attack. She barred her teeth, eyes calculating her next move while Keith did everything in his mind to counter her. Through his peripheral, he could see the device that looked similar to an incubator on Earth on the far wall.

  
Keith tried not to let his eyes lock onto it as he slowly stepped behind Lance, not taking his eyes off of the witch. The alpha let his shoulders relax, lured in by Haggar's surprise into a false sense of an advantage. Keith wasn't so fooled. Still, that didn't stop him from feeling accomplished when Lance sneered at her.

  
"Relax, witch. We're just here to take what belongs to us, and then we'll be on our way." He said with an air of confidence before his finger tightened a little on his bayards trigger. "Don't move, and no one gets hurt."

  
Keith was about three steps away from the incubator and his crying child, when he caught sight of Haggar's shoulders tensing, causing him to stop dead. She breathed a laugh before moving. She was fast, faster than they could move. She knocked Lance off his feet, the latter yelping as he hit the floor, scrambling for his bayard. Keith raised his sword at the ready, spinning on his heels, instinct telling him where she'd strike. He narrowly deflected her savage claws from ripping into his left side, cutting her hands in the process. The witch hissed in pain, retracting from him. She looked between Keith and his daughter. He wouldn't give her the chance to touch her again, slashing at her with his sword to force her away. He stood defensively between the incubator and the witch, pressing his left heel into the base of the wall it was in. He would not budge from this spot.

  
Haggar scowled, clearly not making headway with Keith’s solid defense. Lance, having time to recover, was at Keith’s side in a second, bayard raised. He learned his lesson, eyes trained on the witch, guard as rock solid as Keith’s defense and visibly bristled in anger. For a fleeting moment, Keith mused about Lance being one pissed off papa.  
This time, Keith bared his teeth. "You seem to be forgetting the situation you are in..." He growled. "We're leaving with our baby and if you so much as move a muscle, it'll be the last mistake you ever make."

  
Somehow, Keith knew Haggar got the message, because she merely stood quietly, inspecting her wounded hands as Keith turned his gaze from her. He put away his bayard, and fumbled with the latches on the incubator, popping them open and tentatively scooping his daughter up and into his arms, taking with her the piece of prison poncho she was still wrapped in with her. He pulled her close, letting her smell him, calming her with his presence in mere seconds. He stepped behind Lance, allowing his mate to shield him as they slowly crept out of the room. Once in the doorway, Lance dropped his guard.

  
"Thanks for baby-sitting, but we'll take it from here." He jabbed before shooting the panel, sealing Haggar inside. The alpha turned to Keith, giving him his classic shit-eating grin. "Let's get back to Pidge and get the hell out of Dodge."

  
The trek to Pidge and the rendezvous point seemed to fly by. Keith's heart surprisingly calm despite running most of the way. Once they were with Pidge who hurriedly packed up her equipment, he felt safe enough to actually inspect his daughter. He first looked her chubby little arm where Haggar had dug her lethal nails into the infant, and was shocked there was only a slight bruise. He had been so sure she would've drawn blood. A curious thought hit him that made his stomach churn that perhaps the witch hadn't been a threat to his child. He almost couldn't stomach that idea, pushing it aside to instead run a mental check-list. Ten fingers, ten toes, one tiny nose. She was virtually unscathed.

  
Pidge was almost immediately in Keith's face. "Woah is this her?"

  
"Yeah..."

  
"She's so tiny..." She muttered, gently brushing a finger over the back of her hand. She smiled up at Keith. "Good job, mama."

  
Lance edged in close to Keith, anxious to finally get a good look at their daughter. Her dark blue eyes seemed to land on him, and it finally caused the alpha to melt. He gently pushed back her dark, curly locks.

  
"Hey sweetheart..." He spoke softly to her. "I'm so happy you're here." Lance leaned in, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He cupped Keith's cheek gently, thumb brushing along his cheekbone, before moving in to share a chaste kiss with him. "Let's get you two home."

  
The three paladins moved out, heading for the Green Lion which Pidge had landed in a shuttle bay, and made their escape.

 

* * *

 

  
It had taken what seemed to be a lifetime, or at least that's how it felt. Of course now he knew it had only taken two days. Two long, grueling days of incarceration, labor, birth, and escape. It honestly seemed impossible. But he was finally safe, and clean, and warm, surrounded by all of the soft things he had packed into a nest before being captured. Best yet, he had his baby back in his arms. She too was now safe, and clean, and warm, nursed and burped, finally dressed in a onesie he had chosen specifically for her on a trip to a space mall. "Don't mess with Texas" it said. Cheesy, but he felt pride seeing her in it. She was currently falling asleep on his chest, as he hummed a tune he learned from Lance, when his dorky alpha would sing to his swollen belly. He wasn't sure what the words were, and was afraid of botching the Spanish lyrics, but he had a theory that the lullaby held some degree of significance to him.

  
The mattress under the nest dipped as Lance padded over to him. He shifted slightly, allowing Lance to wiggle in to place so he could wrap an arm around Keith's waist, pulling him in close. His skin was still hot from his shower, the warmth digging into the ache's in Keith's right side, easing the remaining tension there as the hunkered down into their nest. Lance pressed his cheek to Keith's neck, scenting him vigorously before gently biting at Keith's scent gland, earning him a purr of appreciation. They didn't speak. Letting the silence wash over their little family while Keith hoped his loud-mouth of a mate had enough sense to know that despite the strong face Keith had put on in front of the rest of the pack, assuring everyone he was fine and not at all emotionally compromised, he needed quiet now as much as he needed Lance's arms around him.

  
After all, the worst thing that could ever happen to an expecting omega happened to him. He gave birth in an unfamiliar place, his pup was taken by unfamiliar people mere hours after her birth, and holy crow was her birth agony. If he was completely honest, as content as he felt being home and being safe, he still didn't feel completely safe. If he thought about it for too long, he would feel his heart start to hammer in his chest, his throat closing, and his hold on their daughter growing just a little tighter. His eyes stung from his breakdown he had during his shower when she wasn't in his arms, but rather with Coran and Lance being checked over to make sure she was indeed healthy. He actually walked into the med bay weak kneed, soaking wet, and weeping until Lance passed her to him. It had been embarrassing, but Coran merely smiled softly, assuring Keith she was a perfectly healthy pup, and nothing had been done to her, besides the small bruise on her arm from Haggar's claws. He needed sleep badly, but he couldn't. The last time he allowed himself to rest, he lost her, his sweet baby girl.

  
As if sensing his mate's well-hidden anxiety, Lance pressed lazy kisses from his shoulder up to his ear. "Hey..." Lance whispered into his ear. "There's nothing to worry about. No one is going to take her from us ever again. Relax..."

  
Keith let out a shaky breath, nodding to acknowledge the statement, but not ready to speak just yet.

  
"May I hold her?" Lance asked.

  
A pang of guilt hit Keith square in the chest. He had barely let anyone hold her since he got her back from that witch, and that had been almost a full day prior. Not even her uncle, Shiro, had the chance to hold her yet, much to Shiro's disappointment. He chewed his bottom lip, nodding slowly and shifting. He eased her off his chest, passing her to Lance's waiting arms, muttering a reminder to Lance about supporting her head.

  
Lance gasped when her weight fully settled into his arms. His eyes instantly welling up with tears, and it dawned on Keith that this was what made it real for Lance...Sure, he had felt her kicks from within Keith's stomach, but he didn't feel her weight like Keith had. The alpha beamed down at their pup, letting out a gentle sob before pulling her close to his chest, rubbing his cheek across her forehead, scenting her, and pressing kisses to her chubby cheeks, smelling her hair and taking in that new baby smell that had yet to leave her.

  
"God I love you..." He whispered to her. He looked at Keith with an expression that was soaked in pride and adoration. "You did so great...She's beautiful, Keith."

  
Keith smiled, leaning his head on Lance's shoulder as they looked down at their sleeping child. "How can we already love someone we just met? She doesn't even have a name yet..."

  
"You didn't name her?" Lance asked, voice surprisingly soft.

  
Keith shook his head. If he was being honest, he wanted Lance to name her. The two of them had never exactly talked about names, unsure if Keith's pregnancy would even make it to full-term, and not wanting to grow too attached to a child only to lose it due to the war. Still, after she was in his arms, he couldn't think of anything besides getting her home to Lance, to the pack, and until this moment, he honestly hadn't been in the right mind to name her. Another pang of guilt. A beautiful baby girl like her, with her tanned complexion and dark curls, deserved a name. "I wanted you to name her." He whispered.

  
Lance hummed in contemplation, gently stroking the back of her hand which clung to his finger with his thumb. "Guess we should've made a list, huh?"

  
"Guess we should've." After a moment of silence, Keith added, "We could always be predictable and name her something like Andromeda or Ariadne."

  
The alpha beamed, the names apparently not so predictable to him, "Yeah...Yeah! I like it. Andromeda Kogane-McClain. You know...I bet my mom will hate trying to find those name knick-knacks for her. She'll probably have to just stick with a nickname, like Annie."

  
"What's with the hyphen?" Keith asked with a yawn. His eyes betrayed him, sight fading in and out of focus to the point where it made him dizzy.

  
"Well I just thought-...You know...You might want her to have your name..."

  
"Shut up." He grumbled. "You're over thinking it. We're a family. We use your name."

  
Lance's breath hitched, and Keith felt him turn to look at him, "Are you serious?"

  
Keith nodded, his eyes slipping shut. Somehow aware that the small talk with his alpha was relaxing him to a point where sleep actually seemed feasible. Still, he felt his instincts clawing around in the pit of his stomach. He groaned, his head was pounding from lack of sleep at this point. Lance also readjusted, so their daughter was resting against his chest, and Keith was curled into his side tightly, Annie just inches from his face so anytime he opened his eyes he could see her.

  
"Better?" Lance asked. Keith nodded. It really did help. They laid in silence for a moment as Lance kissed the top of his head, free hand brushing through Keith's hair. "Hey uhh...I know you've been avoiding sleep because of what happened, but I promise...I won't let anyone take Annie. I'll protect both of you. So get some rest, mama."

  
"If you ever call me ""mama"" again, I will stab you with my bayard." Keith mumbled, sentence barely coherent as he drifted off to sleep.

  
Lance let out a gentle laugh, "I love you, too, Keith. Both of you."


End file.
